Fix SPF Validation Error With Easy Steps
SPF check is a robust anti-spam measure which many mail servers use today. The mail server verifies the sender’s genuineness by checking the Sender Policy Framework record of the domain.
What Causes The SPF Validation Error?
The SPF record includes the list of IP addresses of the servers, which a domain owner has authorized to send emails on their behalf. The recipient server will accept the email only if it originates from an IP address listed in the SPF record.
Hence, if a domain sends an email from an IP address which is not listed in the SPF record, an invalid SPF record delivery status notification is sent to the domain owner-
“Error 550 – Message rejected because SPF check failed”
Steps To Fix SPF Validation Error
There are a few easy steps that domain owners can take to avoid SPF validation failed error.
Correct the sender SPF record
Although the SPF check failed error appears at the recipient side, the correction needs to be done at the sender’s side. Hence, it becomes necessary to check the sender’s SPF records to ensure that they are appropriately configured. There are online tools that can perform exchange SPF checks to confirm that the emails originate from the IP address mentioned in the SPF record. In case there is a mistake, the receiving mail server will reject the emails.
Use valid sender
The domain owners need to ensure that their emails are originating from a valid sender. Checking the following things can help:
- The “from” field is using the correct domain.
- The domain and mail records point to the correct server.
- The SPF records of the domain are correct.
Fixing these values will allow the recipient to identify the sender as valid and accept the email.
Simple Tricks For Office 365 and Gmail Users
Most organizations use Microsoft Office 365 as their primary email client because of its ease of use and collaboration abilities. However, due to improperly configured SPF records, they may get an SPF validation failed error. The SPF validation error office 365 occurs when there is a failure of the SPF validation for the sender’s domain. To avoid this, domain owners must ensure that their SPF records are set up correctly. They need to keep in mind that Office 365 offers support for only one SPF record for a domain, which is in the form of a TXT record defining the SPF.
Apart from Exchange SPF check, some users also get the SPF check failed Gmail error. A simple way to check if the SPF record is working correctly is by sending a blank email to spf-test@openspf.org and check-auth@verifier.port25.com from the Gmail address. The domain owner will get an instant reply displaying the result of the SPF check. If it says pass, the SPF record is set up correctly, and it will not throw an SPF validation unavailable error. The Gmail messages will not get rejected or enter the spam folder of the receiver.
SPF check is an essential anti-spam tool that saves the recipient’s mailbox from spam emails. An improperly configured SPF record is one of the primary reasons for SPF validation error. But, domain owners can quickly fix it and maintain email deliverability following some easy steps, as mentioned above.
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